12pm – Foldy Comics! – Jerel Dye presents an innovative way of making a your own comic book from a single sheet of paper. This is a kid-friendly workshop or for anyone just getting started in the comic craft.

Comics & …! is a day-long program of panel discussions exploring diverse topics in independent comics. Each panel will take place in University Hall’s Amphitheater, 2nd Floor.

COMICS & TEACHING: Beyond Maus and Persepolis

11:00 AM – Comics such as Spiegelman’s Maus and Satrapi’s Persepolis have found a solid foothold as legitimate classroom texts. However, there are many other noteworthy graphic novels that could also find their way into the K-16 curriculum. This panel will explore specific strategies for teaching comics and teaching with comics, looking past the “canonical” texts noted above.

COMICS & CHILDREN’S LITERATURE: Smart Comics For Kids

12:15 PM – This panel of writers, artists, and reviewers will discuss today’s comics storytelling for kids, the challenges of appealing to different age groups, and the changing roles of such “gatekeepers” as librarians, comic shops, publishers, parents, and digital portals.

COMICS & SOCIAL JUSTICE: Cartoons with a Cause

1:30 PM – Our panelists discuss ways in which the comics medium can be valuable in political discourse, and how independent comics can be an important focus of community activism as well as provide voices for — and representations of — minorities and other marginalized groups.

COMICS & FASHION : Project: Rooftop

2:45 PM – Since 2006 the Project : Rooftop website has examined the trend of independent illustrators redesigning superhero costumes, and now the discussion goes live at MICE! This panel will focus on a few comic book characters, looking at how they’ve been visually interpreted over the years by professionals and fans alike.

COMICS & COLLABORATION: Teamwork 101

4:00 PM – Many of the best comics and graphic novels are created through collaboration between a writer and artist. This panel will present several experienced teams of artists and writers, to share their insights on the pleasures and pitfalls of creative teamwork. How are comics partnerships formed and successfully maintained to produce the optimum results? What surprises have writers and artists encountered in the process of collaboration? What should less experienced creators seeking collaborators look for or be wary of?

MODERATOR: Alexander Danner PANELISTS: TBA

COMICS & TECHNOLOGY: Digital Comics

5:15 PM – Digital creation and distribution of comics are here to stay and will only get more important to the future of the medium. What are the best platforms – currently, or on the horizon — for the production and delivery of digital comics? How can artists and writers adapt themselves to new devices and software, and what improvements can be anticipated? What are the implications of these new technologies for the artist’s work and income?

The Boston area’s independent and alternative comics scene has grown by leaps and bounds during the past few years, and it takes another step with MICE, the first-ever Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo. Presented by the Boston Comics Roundtable and the Art Institute of Boston (who also teamed up for the 2008 Boston â€˜Zine Fair), MICE will be held at AIB’s 700 Beacon Street campus on Saturday, September 25th, from 10 am – 6 pm.

With over 50 comics artists and writers offering their work, as well as comics-themed panels and workshops, MICE will be a treat for local comics readers or anyone interested in the unusual, the creative, the entertaining and the outrageous. While most of the exhibitors will be from the Boston area, comics creators from all over New England and New York will be represented, including a contingent from the Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont.

Visitors to MICE will find comics of all subjects and for all ages: serious graphic novels, exquisite hand-made artists’ books and photo-copied mini-comics and â€˜zines, as well as traditionally-formatted comic books of all genres from outside the mainstream publishing world.

“The subject matter and art styles of these comics are as varied as the packaging,” says Dan Mazur, a member of the Boston Comics Roundtable and one of the show’s organizers. “The only limit to what indy cartoonists can create is their own imagination.”

Susan LeVan, Illustration Department Chair at the Art Institute of Boston, says that hosting an indy comics show complements the school’s comics-friendly curriculum. “MICE is the perfect event for AIB ,” says LeVan. “Many of our students, alumni, faculty, and staff are involved in the production or study of independent comics, graphic novels, webcomics, â€˜zines, artists’ books, and related genres – all of which are part of the AIB curriculum. A number will participate as exhibitors, and the whole AIB community is eager to see what’s new on the Boston scene.”

MICE will also feature the debut of the latest anthology from the Boston Comics Roundtable: “Inbound 5: Comics About Food.” Featuring over 40 stories by Boston and New England cartoonists centered around the wide-ranging theme of “food,” this is the follow-up to 2009’s successful “Inbound #4: A Comic Book History of Boston,” which will also be available at the show.

MICE will also interactive workshops to learn techniques from comics artists, and panel discussions on the world of independent comics.

Besides the new “Inbound 5: Comics About Food,” several notable local comics creators will be presenting new books at MICE:

KARL STEVENS, (whose weekly strip “Whatever” ran for three years in the Boston Phoenix), will debut his autobiographical graphic novel, “The Lodger.”

Dorchester cartoonist PATT KELLEY (whose work graced the Weekly Dig’s cover earlier this year) will unveil the 2nd issue of his comic, “Parasitic Twins,” about the lives of circus freaks and the many hilarious tragedies that befall them, as well as a short-story collection, “All of Them Witches.”

LIZ PRINCE (whose “Will You Still Love Me if I Wet the Bed?” went from locally printed mini-comics to being published by indy heavyweight Top Shelf Productions), will be presenting the 2nd issue of her ongoing series, “I Swallowed the Key to My Heart.”

About the Boston Comics Roundtable
Formed in 2006, the Boston Comics Roundtable brings local cartoonists and writers together to collaborate, workshop and socialize. Among BCR’s publications are “Inbound,” an anthology of Boston-area independent comics, “Outbound,” a science-fiction comics anthology, and the up-coming collection of New England-based horror comics, “Hellbound.” If you’re in the Boston metro area, join us for our next meeting. Visit www.bostoncomicsroundtable.com for more information.

About AIB
The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University is a college of visual arts, located in the student-friendly Kenmore/Fenway area of Boston. We offer the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, the two-year Advanced Professional Certificate, the low residency Master of Fine Arts degree, as well as continuing and professional education, intensive workshops, and pre-college courses.

Season’s Greetings and welcome to the 2nd annual COMICAZI Con!! What is COMICAZI Con, you’re asking? Why its only the most awesome event to hit Davis Square since the last time Comicazi had an event! We ARE humble. Thank you.

COMICAZI Con is a combination comic convention and craft fair. There will be comics retailers, local comics artists, Boston Comics Roundtable, and local artisans with their wares like jewelry and knit products. Lots of cool stuff!! Also, there will be food and coffee and ROCK BAND! Yep you can play Rock Band and maybe even win the game!

It will be an excellent opportunity to pick up gifts for lots of different friends and family on your lists and it will be great fun!!

There promises to be all sorts of fun on Saturday! Here’s just a few of the vendors waiting for you!